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Applications Example

Wide Range of Applications for Edge Trimming

DISCO has developed edge trimming technologies to meet the needs for reducing the breakage rate of thin and small-diameter wafers. Edge trimming is a process that prevents wafer breakage and chipping during backside grinding and transfer by trimming the wafer edge beforehand.
Edge trimming has been popular with customers, and some examples of its applications are presented here.

Process Example

At DISCO, we refer to the dicing of a circular shape around the wafer edge as "edge trimming", and we provide various applications to best match customer needs.

Some application examples are shown below.

Ex. 1: Edge Chipping Countermeasure

Typically, thinly ground wafers result in sharpness around the outer edge (shown in Fig. 1), and this area is prone to causing breakage or chipping. In edge trimming, this sharp edge area is removed to prevent these issues.

Fig. 1: Comparison of Edge Condition after Grinding

Ex. 2: Changing the Wafer Diameter

Edge trimming can be used to change the wafer size in applications where the wafer must be modified to a certain diameter for existing equipment.

Fig. 2: Reducing the Wafer Diameter

Ex. 3: Removing Unneeded Area from the Edge

Edge trimming can be used to remove unneeded PI film, metal film, resin, and other substances from the wafer edge.
A full cut can be executed to remove an unneeded area, even in cases where the unneeded substance is covering the lateral side, so that it will not affect grinding or other processes.